Learning Chess

Original by: By Tom Rysinski • December 13, 2021

WEST POINT — Chance Dumas rested his head on his hands, staring intently at the chessboard with as serious a look as any second-grader can muster. Playing black, he deliberately moved his bishop diagonally across the board to capture an opponent’s piece, taking his prize off the board and placing it on the side, never changing expression.

If Harold Lathon’s wishes come true, soon there will be plenty of other people, kids and adults, staring intently at chess boards on Saturday mornings in the Ester Pippen Meeting Room in West Point’s Bryan Public Library.

Lathon, a basketball star at West Point High School (Class of 1976) and a two-time mayoral candidate, feels very strongly about the value of chess, especially for young people.

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